Colcannon Casserole

With St. Patrick’s Day right around the corner, my google reader seems to be spitting out hundreds of recipes for Colcannon.

And for good reason. This Irish dish is not only easy to make, it is also quite tasty. It’s composed of two of my most favorite foods: kale and mashed potatoes. Sometimes the kale is replaced with cabbage (or is it the other way around?). It makes no difference to me… I am still smitten. Really, any cruciferous veggie mixed with mashed potatoes is sure to win my heart.

This recipe is just an elaboration on the popular dish. It’s basically colcannon topped with a whiskey marinated tofu, fragrant toasted walnuts, and a decadent mushroom gravy. Altogether, it makes a killer main course.

I’ve always been fairly indifferent to St. Patrick’s Day as celebrated here in the USA. I’ve never been much of a bar-hopper, and now that I have children, even if I had the urge to do so, I’d have to hassle with a sitter, and then we’d have a curfew–and well, it’s just much more fun for me to snuggle up next to my hubby and sip green beer in our cozy living room. Maybe watch Leprechaun or something.

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Anyways, the whole time I was making this, I kept thinking how wonderful this casserole would be for a holiday dinner… like Thanksgiving. Or any holiday where there’s some sort of feast involved.

St. Patty’s Day? Yep, that’ll do.

So this year, I’m declaring Colcannon Casserole as our family’s official St. Patrick’s day celebration meal… complete with a few (gluten free) green beers. Now that’s a tradition I can get behind 100%.

It takes a bit of elbow grease* and a whole lotta ingredients to get this thing put together, but it’s well worth the effort if you’re a fan of the green stuff + mashed potatoes like I am.

Drain tofu very well and slice thinly into whatever shape you desire… strips, squares, or even rip it into pieces. Arrange tofu in deep sided dish for marinating. It’s okay to stack tofus on top of each other. Combine the rest of marinade ingredients into large mason jar. (I dissolved the bouillon into boiling water before combining with the rest of the ingredients.)

Cap tightly and shake vigorously to mix all ingredients. Pour over tofu and let marinate for a few hours… if you place it in fridge, the olive oil may solidify, so just be sure to rotate the fu’s to keep the oil from separating.

Once tofu is nicely saturated with flavor, place tofu pieces carefully into cast iron skillet, or nonstick pan, and pour marinade over tofu. Let tofu cook over medium heat until browned on one side, stirring the veggies from the marinade occasionally so they do not burn. Most liquid should be cooked away when they are nearing the end of their cooking time.

Flip tofus and let cook until browned on opposite side.

Ingredients for Colcannon:

For the Mashed Potatoes

3 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, unpeeled & cut into 1″ sections

3-5 tbsp vegan margarine

4 tbsp non-dairy milk

sea salt and pepper to taste

For the Kale

7 cups chopped fresh kale, any variety

3 shallots, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup Non-Dairy Milk

2 dashes sea salt

Directions for Colcannon:

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil over high heat. Carefully drop in potatoes. Reduce heat slightly and allow water to come back to a rolling boil. Cook potatoes for about 12 minutes, or until fork tender. Drain well.

In large mixing bowl, combine cooked potatoes with margarine. Mix well (I generally set my electric mixer on its highest setting) and mix until creamy. Add in non-dairy milk until desired consistency is reached. Salt to taste.

In large skillet or saucepan, combine kale, shallots, garlic, 1/2 cup non-dairy milk and sea salt. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until all liquid has been absorbed and kale is tender. This should take about 15 minutes.

Stir cooked kale and all the goodness from the pan into the mashed potatoes.

Colcannon’s done.

Walnut Topping (well, technically it’s under gravy):

1 1/4 cups crushed walnuts

Preheat oven to 400 °F. Arrange crushed walnuts in single layer on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in oven for about 10 minutes, or until fragrant.

In saucepan, combine mushrooms, garlic and non-dairy milk. Cook over medium heat until almost all liquid has been absorbed, stirring often.

Scoot mushrooms to the side of the pan, and place margarine and sorghum flour into pan next to mushrooms. Stir melting margarine and flour together to make a thick paste (roux). Use a whisk to mix in about 2 cups additional non-dairy milk or veggie broth, being sure to remove any lumps. Cook over medium heat until gravy thickens. If it becomes too thick, add more liquid. I think I ended up using about 3 cups liquid, total. Salt to taste and sprinkle with black pepper.

Assembly of Colcannon Casserole:

Spread colcannon evenly into casserole dish.

Layer top with cooked tofu and then sprinkle liberally with toasted walnuts.

Smother with gravy.

Broil in oven for a few minutes if you feel so inclined… that will make it more casserole-like than just being placed in a casserole dish. ;)

Or serve on a plate, de-constructed.

*I really think it’s the cooking of all ingredients at once, along with the planning involved in this dish, that makes it seem like a good deal of effort is involved. It’s really not that bad.

It kind of gives you the same feeling as completing a section of an exhaustive Thanksgiving feast. And, in my and my husband’s opinion, it is well worth it.

Here are the steps I like to use to make this recipe:

Step 1: Night before, marinate tofu.

Step 2: Next day, make mashed potatoes. While potatoes are cooking, or your waiting for water to boil, begin making kale.

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26 Responses to Colcannon Casserole

This is a great recipe! I have made it twice now, and changed a few things to make it quicker….IMO it doesn’t really need the gravy, so I leave that out, also I fully cook the tofu first, without marinating, and then add all the marinade at the end, letting it caramelize. The favors of that marinade are amazing!! Thanks for great recipe :)

I’ve only made one colcannon in my life and I thought it was pretty bland and dull. Your recipe has so many flourishes – whiskey, walnuts, gravy – that make it sound delicious and enticing! There are too many ingredients to make it for a regular meal (it’s not even the time or multiple steps that stop me, just the $ of buying so many different veggies) but I have bookmarked it in my “special occasions” section!

OK. I think I may be in love with this recipe. So much so that I’m gonna have to make it…tonight! I was trying to decide what to fix, AND we have to run to the store anyway. Oh, I love it when I get all inspired like this. THANKS!!

Oh, wow. I looooove Colcannon- or in my case, whatever the quickest way to mash potatoes and cabbage/kale possible is-, and I always kind of wish it could equal a full meal…this is like my dream dinner!

wow! that is one hearty meal! it looks so delicious. i love how you added walnuts- i think walnuts elevate just about any dish to the next level. i definitely want to try this..on a day where i have 6 hours to dedicate to cooking. haha ;)